Tens of thousands take to the 110 Freeway for ArroyoFest event
From PasadenaStarNews.com
The 110 Freeway from Pasadena to Los Angeles was crowded the morning of Sunday, Oct. 29, not with car traffic but rather with a steady flow of everything people-powered.
From folks riding bicycles, scooters, rollerblades, skateboards or just putting one foot in front of the other, more than 50,000 descended on the six-mile closed-off stretch of the Arroyo Seco Parkway just to experience Los Angeles’ oldest freeway without cars from 7 a.m. to a little after 11 a.m.
It marked the second time the same the freeway was closed to vehicles. The first time took place in June 2003, when two professors from Occidental College and several environmental and cycling groups pulled off the inaugural ArroyoFest — drawing about 8,000 people who traversed the lanes of the emptied freeway.
“A new generation will revive the magic,” said Tim Hepburn, mayor of La Verne and president of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments at the starting line of the second ArroyoFest on Mission Street and Orange Grove Avenue in South Pasadena.
Some walked the first Arroyofest with their young children who are now grown and experienced it a second time. Others came from all parts of Southern California to take part in the phenomenon.
“When you are driving it, you’re going like 70 mph. Now it is cool to take it easy and see all the sites. You see the things you don’t see (when driving),” said Heather Rothenay, 39 of Lake Elsinore. She’s taken part in other open streets events in San Diego and Riverside.
Photo by Daniel Lee on Unsplash
